Top 10 Deadliest Hurricanes

September 1900
1.- Galveston, Tx. The deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history, the Galveston hurricane of 1900 is
estimated to have killed between 8,000 and 12,000 people. The Category 4 hurricane struck on
September 8, 1900, leveling 12 city blocks, nearly three-quarters of the island city of Galveston, Texas.

September 1928
2.- Lake Okeechobee, Fl. This Category 4 hurricane ravaged Puerto Rico, and residents of Florida had
little warning before the powerful storm slammed into the Lake Okeechobee area near Palm Beach. The
storm breached a levee around the lake -- and most of the storm victims drowned. 1,836 victims.

September 2005
3.- Hurricane Katrina landed SE LA & SW Mississippi as category 4 causing catastrophic damages and
causing 1,256 fatalities mostly due to floodings and storm surge. Thousands of people were evacuated to
different nearby states.

September 1928
4.- Florida Keys & Corpus Christi, Tx. This Category 4 storm went over the Keys, crossed the Gulf of
Mexico and hit Corpus Christi, Texas. Many of the victims were aboard ships at sea. Bob Simpson, codeveloper
of the Saffir-Simpson scale used to measure hurricane strength, was forced to flee the storm
as a teen in Corpus Christi. 600 to 900 victims.

September 1938
5.- New England. The Category 3 storm struck Long Island on September 21, 1938, at high tide and
brought hurricane-force winds all across New England. Rainfall from this hurricane resulted in severe
river flooding across sections of New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut. More than 8,000 homes
were destroyed, mostly by a storm surge of 12 to 16 feet, and some 6,000 boats wrecked or damaged.
600 victims.

September 1935
6.- Florida Keys. The "Great Labor Day" storm was the most intense Category 5 hurricane to make
landfall in the United States. Its winds were strong enough to derail a train sent to rescue World War I
veterans who had been working on a government building project in the Keys. 423 victims.

June 1957
7.- Southwest Louisiana, Northeast Texas. The Category 4 storm hit during the night of June 26, 1957,
flooding the low-lying areas of coastal Louisiana. Many of its victims thought they had a day left to
leave the area, but the storm accelerated. A 12-foot storm surge moved water as far as 25 miles inland.
390 victims.

September 1944
8.- Northeastern US. The Category 3 "Great Atlantic Hurricane" slowly moved up the East Coast and
brushed Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, before bringing 90 mph gusts to downtown Norfolk, Virginia,
on September 14, 1944. It then dumped heavy rains on the Northeast. More than 300 of the deaths were
people lost at sea. 394 victims.

September 1909
9.- Louisiana. The Grand Isle Hurricane came ashore on September 20, 1909, at Berwick before passing
inland between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The Category 4 storm caused $6 million of damage and
its 15-foot storm surge inundated much of southern Louisiana. 350 victims.

September 1915
10.- New Orleans, La. This Category 4 storm caused Lake Pontchartrain to overflow its banks, killing
275 people. That scenario is one that hurricane experts don't like to ponder because if the city,
surrounded on three sides by water, is hit by a major hurricane, the storm surge might inundate the city.
275 victims. September 1915 NOTE: Hurricane Katrina is ranked in the top 3 position after the 2005
hurricane season is over. Souce NOAA